


I Almost Forgot

by Snurtlicious



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, amnesia au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 11:19:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2650151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snurtlicious/pseuds/Snurtlicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After teaching Momo to kiss, Sousuke hits his head and loses his memories. When he wakes up in the hospital with Momo hanging over his bed, all he can remember is them kissing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Almost Forgot

“What the hell are you talking about Momo?” He had to be out of his mind if he thought that I’d teach him something like that, or that even could. I just leaned back against the black bed sheets and tried to humor him.

“Please senpai,” He stepped into the room and closed the gap between us. “Please teach me how to kiss girls! I’ve never actually done it before, but I have to learn so that none of them can resist me when it happens!” Momo’s cheeks were a little flushed, but that wasn’t what concerned me.

“What makes you think that I can even do that? I’m a swimmer, not a swinger.” I stuck my good arm behind my head and rested it on the wall. He looked really dejected, but that was unlikely to deter him. If he wanted kissing lessons from me, I guess I could just make something up.

“Please Yamazaki! I have to get Gou to pick me and not my brother! You’re my only hope.” He was practically shouting at this point. He was lucky Rin wasn’t here or he’d have gotten a boot to the face by now. I just sighed and turned my gaze on to him.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what I know, just stop shouting. You’re giving me a migraine.” I spent the next few minutes poorly explaining to him how I’d do it. I didn’t really have a lot of experience with dating to begin with, but I guess he’d had even less than me. It was awkward and strange, and at the end of it, I didn’t think Momo had learned a thing.

“Show me how you’d do it now.” I nodded at him and watched as he just sort of stuck his tongue out and whirled it around. I closed my eyes and scoffed at him. “That would never turn anyone on. Use less tongue.”

“Like this?” He sang at me, then stuck more of his tongue out. I sighed at him.

“No, Momo, I said _less_ tongue, not more.” I tired of this really quickly. In my moment of irritation, I just leaned forward and grabbed Momo by the collar of his shirt. “Like this.”

I just sort of pressed our mouths together. No better teacher than experience, I guess. It was a little awkward, but once Momo got into the swing of things, he improved drastically. I pulled back and wiped the excess spit of my chin.

“That’s what I meant,” I returned to my position on the bed. “If you do that, Gou will be like putty in your hands. Just don’t tell Rin that I helped you, deal?” His head nodded, but his face was redder than I expected and he was being strangely quiet. He left without another word and I really didn’t think much of it.

That was why it was even more unfortunate the next time I saw him.

We were in the locker room after I’d spent some time helping Nitori with his strokes. Momo had shown up hoping to get me to help him too, but we’d already finished. It was just a joke, sure. He shoved me a little.

I stepped into a puddle of water and the sole of my shoe slipped. By the time I could’ve recovered, my head already slammed into the bench and I’d lost consciousness.

\---

Someone was shaking me and yelling a name. Sousuke, Sousuke…

Who was that? I cracked open my eyes and tried to remember… anything. I couldn’t… why couldn’t I remember?

Who am I?

Two brown eyes stared back at me, contrasted against a stark white wall. I guessed I was in the hospital. I’d been here many times… hadn’t I? I felt like there were so many thoughts struggling to free themselves.

“Who am I?” I said back to him. His face turned red and his eyes closed. I’d seen him before now, recently too. I remembered sitting in bed and… kissing? Was he my boyfriend? I grabbed his hand. “Are you my boyfriend?”

“S-Sousuke! I, uh,” He stammered for a minute, but didn’t pull his hand back. “You hit your head really hard and they think you have amnesia. Rin is talking to the doctor now, but I’m just supposed to be keeping an eye on you.”

“So you are my boyfriend, then? I remember kissing you, and that’s what people who are together do, right?” I squeezed his hand harder, but he just looked even more embarrassed. “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head and finally pulled away. He ran out of the room and came back with two others and a doctor.

“Sousuke,” the red head shouted and stepped towards me. “Are you alright? Do you remember me?” I felt like I was watching the thoughts play through an old TV. There was so much static and the picture was so pixelated that it was hard to see much of anything. I thought I saw him once or twice, just off to the side of my view, laughing.

“I don’t really, but I think we’re friends? I remember laughing with you, I think.” His expression flicked between a few different emotions. It was strangely easy to read his mood though. We must’ve been really close. My eyes flicked to the other kid in the room with us.

He’d been there recently too. I almost felt like I could remember, but it was a no go. I couldn’t place anything from him. I felt a little bad, but what about my family and other friends? Would I even recognize my own parents at this point?

“Sousuke, it’s alright. We’ll help you remember, just relax. I’m Rin Matsuoka and you’re my best friend.” He extended a hand and smiled, but I could tell he wasn’t exactly happy. “This is Aiichiro Nitori and Momo Mikoshiba. We’re your teammates on the Samezuka swim team, which is also where we attend school.” He gestured to the smaller boy and then the first one I’d seen.

“Well, he won’t be attending school for at least a few days. We’ve contacted your father to speak with him about the bill, but I’ve assured him that your condition is stable and you’ll be fine after a few days of bed rest.” The doctor butted in.

“What about my memories though? Will those come back after a few days?” I asked, fearing his response. I didn’t really know very much about amnesia, not that I knew much of anything at the moment, but it could be permanent?

“Normally after experiencing head trauma, your memories can be a little foggy. If you give it some time, I’m sure they’ll come back on their own.” He grinned a little before nodding and excusing himself. Suddenly, I felt a little awkward. I knew that I should know who these three were, but the memories just weren’t happening.

Rin tossed a bag onto the bed next to me and began rifling through it, piling movie after movie out of his bag onto my lap.

“I know you have to stay here for a couple of days, but I brought you some movies so you’d at least have something else to watch besides TV.” He looked sort of cheerful, but I figured it was just an act so I’d feel better. I picked up one of the cases and skimmed the back of it.

“Are they all cheesy romantic comedies?” I sat it back down and pilfered through the rest of the pile.

“Not all of them, but yeah. We watch these all the time, mostly to make fun of them though. The only problem with that is now they’re all I own. Sorry, Sousuke.” He rubbed the back of his head, causing some of the hair pulled back in the tiny ponytail to fall out.

“It’s alright, maybe I’ll learn something from watching them.” I glanced back at Momo, I think was his name. He hadn’t said much, but he was acting all antsy and quiet. Next to him, Tori seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“Hey,” I caught his gaze. “Tori, you don’t have to cry. I’m fine.” That pushed the tears over the edge until he was full on bawling on Momo’s shoulder. I looked over at Rin, clearly not expecting that turn. “Was it something I said?”

“His name is _Ni_ tori, not just Tori. Maybe we should leave and let you get settled in. We’ll be back tomorrow after practice to visit.” He pulled his empty bag off the bed and grabbed Nitori’s shoulder to pull him out of the room. Momo lingered for a moment longer, casting his eyes over mine. I wanted to say something to him, to ask him what we were, but he broke eye contact and headed into the hallway, leaving me alone in the room.

\---

A couple of days went by and I managed to watch every single movie that Rin had brought. I expected him to bring Nitori and Momo with him, but only Nitori ever showed up with him. Apparently Momo had been busy with homework or whatever and couldn’t make it. I was honestly more confused than anything, and when Nitori stepped away to go to the bathroom, I decided to ask Rin about it.

“Rin, am I seeing anyone?” He immediately raised an eyebrow and started laughing.

“You,” he shook his head. “No way… at least not as far as I’m aware.” He leaned his hip up against the bed frame. “Did you remember something?”

I turned my face away from his. “I just remember kissing someone, but I can’t imagine why I’d be doing that with them if we weren’t dating.” I mean, I’d watched all those movies. Basically people didn’t kiss unless they were romantically, or sexually, charged. We had to be at least one of those things, right?

“Well that doesn’t mean you’re dating. You could’ve just been working one out on ‘em.” He flopped back across my legs. “I don’t know though. You weren’t really the type for a one night stand, but I don’t really know about your romantic history.”

“So I could be dating someone?” I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse. On the one hand, I was dating someone, but on the other, I didn’t remember a damn thing about him.

“I don’t know anyone that’d want to date a lunkhead like you, but it’s not impossible. You must’ve pulled a fast one to get her to go out with you.” I clenched my teeth. Her?

“Yeah, right,” was all I could reply. “Have you talked to Momo at all? You’ve been the only two to come visit me in the last few days.”

“Momo has been pretty elusive. I haven’t seen him since the other day.”

Had he been avoiding coming to see me because of what I said to him? What if we weren’t actually dating and I’d just scared the crap out of one of my friends?

“If you can get ahold of him, you should send him over. It’d be nice to see some people that I knew, maybe jog my memories a little bit.” I lied. I really just wanted to ask him what we were, try to get a straight, or otherwise, answer.

“Yeah, I’ll call him when I leave and tell him to get his ass over here.” He grinned toothily.

\---

Rin and Nitori left pretty shortly after that. I wasn’t really sure how I felt about Rin, but he was easygoing in front of me and it didn’t feel bad to hang out with him. He even called Momo for me and told him to come by and see me.

I was watching the romantic climax of one of the movies that Rin had brought when Momo arrived. The girl just realized that her childhood friend was really ‘the one’ the entire time and she was just too blind to realize it. Somehow, I didn’t think life was quite that simple.

I clicked the TV off and just… sat there. He made awkward eye contact, but no moves to say anything or to move at all. I guess I’d have to go first.

“Momo, I just wanted to know if we–”

“Senpai, I’m sorry! I should’ve told you the other day, but we aren’t boyfriends or anything like that…” He started shouting, but his voice quickly trailed off. I was a little disappointed, honestly. He was cute and seemed really silly.

“Can I ask you a question then?” He looked back up, expectantly. “Will you go out on a date with me then? I get released tomorrow, so we can after that.” His eyes shot wide open.

“S-Sousuke, you don’t want to go out with me,” he turned around. “Not after I put you in here.”

“But see, I don’t remember that. I just remember your cute face and kissing you. Seeing you all flustered like this only makes me think you’re cuter.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed and took a few steps towards him.

“Sousuke, I—” I grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. He was trembling a little in my grasp, and his face was as red as the sun setting outside the windows. This was just like in one of those terribly unrealistic movies, but I leaned down and kissed him once, gently, on the lips.

“Will you go out with me tomorrow?” His eyes avoided mine, but with nowhere else to look, he was forced back into my line of sight. I could tell he was chewing on the inside of his cheek, and I could feel his pulse thrumming through his shirt.

“I…” his voice trailed off, but he nodded, pressing the top of his head into my chest. “Just,” he looked back up. “Don’t mention it to Rin. He might not take it the right way, and I don’t want to get you in trouble with him since you’re friends and all.”

I raised an eyebrow and grinned at him. “I wouldn’t worry about Rin too much. I can take care of him if anything comes up.” For the first time since coming in the room, he finally cracked grin. His whole face lit up and I just wanted to go back in for another kiss. However, I didn’t want to ruin the moment and scare him off, so I opted for waiting until tomorrow.

“I get out of the hospital at two sharp, so you better be here to pick me up and take me back to Saw-me-zooka.” I think that was what it was called, anyways. He just scoffed and took a step back.

“It’s Samezuka, Sousuke. First you get Nitori’s name wrong, and now this? Maybe you’re worse off than I thought.” He shook his head, trying to stifle his chuckles.

“What do you think amnesia means? I can still remember things here and there, like kissing you, but that’s really it. The doctor said that falling back into the swing of things could trigger them though.” I think his exact words were that any little thing could really spark them and it’d all come rushing back. I was ready to get back, but I was a little hesitant. I didn’t really know much of anything about anyone I knew and tiptoeing around them all and trying to be cool was pretty taxing.

“Were you always this much of a dork? I remember Sousuke being cool and quiet and mysterious.” He made a weird gesture with his hands that I guessed was supposed to be ‘mysteriousness’.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see, Momo.”

\---

Packing up to leave wasn’t very difficult since I’d only had Rin’s movies. Thankfully, they’d saved my clothes from the other day. I was a little worried I’d have to make someone bring me something since I didn’t even know where I lived at.

I had to sign a bunch of papers before they let me leave, which was weird since I didn’t even know my last name until they told it to me. It was only a short wait after that before Momo showed up and we left. I wasn’t sure where exactly we were headed, but the air was sort of chilly despite it being early in the afternoon. I caught sight of a sign that said the train station was ahead.

“Where do you think we should go first? Do you want to go back to Samezuka?” He asked, acting a little antsy. He was nervous, and I thought it was kind of cute.

“I think we should save school for later. If we go back now, they might not let us leave.” I replied, keeping my eyes on him as we walked. “What were you planning on doing today?”

He sighed and looked up. “Well, I normally go to the park on Fridays and look for beetles and then stop off at the burger place near the train station and get a milkshake and head back to the school.”

“Why don’t we go do that then? It could be fun.” I gestured for him to lead the way. We walked down the sidewalk past some taller buildings before weaving down through an insane amount of turns. I felt like even if I’d had my memories, I’d never be able to navigate here on my own. Momo didn’t even blink as he walked down questionable alleyways and right past rundown buildings. He was either incredibly brave or incredibly naïve.

He stopped before we turned a corner. “We’re here! Tah-dah! This is my favorite park around here. C’mon!” He grabbed my hand a pulled me along behind him. “There’s a tree around here that’s been dying for a while and I bet it has some really great bugs in it.”

Momo was really enthusiastic, wasn’t he? Made me wonder why he’d even agree to go out with me. Something told me that I wasn’t that expressive at all, and that I probably wouldn’t have acted on any of these feelings if I’d had them beforehand. I tried not to think about it too much more. Stressing out wouldn’t make my memories return, and I didn’t want to bring Momo down.

We walked across the grass to a tree that was obviously not healthy. Instead of being a healthy brown color, the bark was mostly bleached. Only a few of the branches had leaves on them, but they were mostly brown and dead as well.

“What makes trees die like this?” I asked. Momo had already released my hand and was attempting to pry a piece of dead bark off the trunk.

“It can be a lot of different things like age or weather, but this one died because of,” he grunted loudly and the bark gave way. “Termites!” He held out the bark and let me examine the dozens of tiny bugs scurrying across the surface. I felt a little sad for the tree. It did everything it could to survive, but the termites still got the better of it.

“You really like this sort of stuff, don’t you?” I leaned in closer to see all sorts of other bugs running around under the bark.

“Yeah, bugs are just really cool. I’ll show you a cool beetle that I caught last week when we get back to Samezuka.” His brown eyes were all lit up and his clenched fists showed off how excited he really was.

“Great, I can’t wait.” I smiled a little bit and put one of my hands on his. He faltered a bit and blushed.

“What’s with you? Sousuke never would have done this before now, so why do you care?” His eyebrows went down and his smile faded.

“You see the thing is,” I frowned. “I don’t remember Sousuke, so I can’t act like him if I don’t know him. All I really know is that I’m having fun spending time with you, and when I remember, I’ll still be having fun spending time with you.” Was that really right though? I couldn’t say for sure that when I did get my memories back, I’d still be able to do this.

“Just don’t hurt me, alright? That’s the worst thing I can imagine.” He shrugged. “Actually wait, the worst thing I can imagine is a tarantula trying to rip my face off with its pincers. I hate spiders.”

His gears shifted so quickly that I could only find myself laughing. “I thought you loved all bugs, though?”

He jolted forward and filled the space between us. “No! Spiders are arachnids, not bugs! Bugs are totally awesome! Spiders make me want to puke!” His face was near mine, so near, that I just leaned down and pecked him on the cheek.

“Well you’re really cute when you want to puke, y’know that?” His eyes opened up again, but instead of stepping back or shouting, he just chuckled.

“Shut up, I’m not cute. I’m boyishly handsome!” He shoved his nose into mine, causing him to look like a Cyclops.

“Well now you just look like a monster. Not cute at all.” I took a step back and leaned against the tree trunk.

“I already said that I’m not cute, Sousuke!” He looked at the tree trunk. “Also I wouldn’t lean on that if I were you. Unless you want to get ants on you, then by all means!”

I jumped back and brushed all of the creepy crawlies off me. “Maybe we should get out of here. You mentioned milkshakes earlier, right? That sounds good to me.”

“Okay fine, there’s a place near the train station that we can hit.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me back along the way we’d come. “Hurry up, Sou! We want to get there before the dinner rush starts!”

I nodded and picked up the pace a little. He fearlessly led us back through each sleazy alley we’d gone through the first time until we stopped in front of a fast food place. As soon as the doors slid open, the scent of French fries and burgers hit me.

Momo stepped up to the counter and ordered two vanilla shakes. He pulled out his wallet and stopped. “Wait, make that one milkshake. I can’t afford two.” He looked back at me, a little embarrassed, but I didn’t mind.

“It’ll be alright. We can just share that one.” I said, as he handed the cashier the money. She eyed us a little as she passed the shake across the counter, so we quickly egressed and hopped back on a train headed to the academy.

“That was a little awkward, don’t you think?” Momo broke the few minutes of silence that had grown in the empty train cab.

“How so?” I looked over at him. The orange in the sunset streaming in caught his hair and turned it every shade of orange I could even imagine.

“She just looked at us really funny. It was kind of a shame, she was really cute.” He shrugged and thrust the milkshake towards me.

I held the cold cup up to my mouth and stuck the straw in. After taking a long drag, “What do you even think about girls, Momo?”

He looked out the window, but I couldn’t tell if he was blushing or not. “I’ve always liked to look at girls and I think they’re really cute, but you’re the only person I’ve ever been on an actual date with.”

I was his first date and I didn’t even remember what he was to me. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

“What about you…” He paused. “Actually, I guess you wouldn’t really know right now.” He laughed. “Wait, I shouldn’t laugh.” Somehow, he managed to sputter and act so silly that I didn’t feel so bad anymore.

“I don’t know how you do it, honestly.” I handed the shake back to him.

“Do what?” He looked really confused.

“I’ve felt bad two different times today, and you’ve made me feel better both times.” I leaned over and laid with my head across his lap. “That’s pretty special.”

“S-Sousuke, I, uh.” This time I could tell that his cheeks had turned bright rosy red. If this had been one of those romantic comedies, maybe we wouldn’t have gotten to the stop where the school was right then. It could’ve been a defining moment in our relationship and we might have kissed or made a promise or something.

Unfortunately, our date came to an end pretty soon after we got back on campus. Momo took me to my room and then Rin dismissed him. I wanted to tell Rin to invite him in, but that was the one thing Momo had asked me to do, not say anything to Rin.

All that Rin wanted to do was sit around in our room and try to jog my memory. After literally nothing worked, he just gave up, and by then it was bedtime.

\---

My head felt really groggy the next morning. I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I stopped in front of the mirror and realized Rin had left the cap off the toothpaste again.

“Damn it, Rin. I’ve told you a hundred times to put the cap back on… the…” Wait. “I remember?” I realized that I remembered everything. All of my classes, all my friends, my family, my hurt shoulder, everything was there.

Even the memories of my date with Momo.

I slipped a shirt on and ran out of the room, leaving a drowsy Rin behind to wonder what I was screaming about. Momo and Nitori’s room was down here, just one more door.

I slammed my hand against the cartoon duck that Nitori had taped next to one of Momo’s beetle drawings. A couple seconds later, an extremely alarmed Nitori, with crazy bedhead, opened the door.

“What is it, Senpai? Did something happen?” His blue eyes looked like they were fighting through the haze of sleep.

“I need to talk to Momo.” I replied, peeking in through the door. Nitori turned around and then shook his head.

“He’s not here. He goes out to the pool early sometimes to practice, so you should che—” I took off without even letting him finish his sentence. He’d probably tell Rin, but I could make up an excuse later. I needed to talk to Momo right away.

Like a montage from one of those movies, I sped down hallway after hallway, even outside in the freezing morning air. I wished I’d grabbed a jacket, but once I entered the warm pool hall, sweat started to run down my back.

“Momo!” I shouted, seeing someone sitting with their feet in the pool. I walked over, and once I identified him, I removed all the space between us.

“Sousuke, you’re choking me, and you’re getting your clothes wet! What’s wrong?” He flailed a little, but I didn’t let go.

“I remember, Momotarou.” I told him. “I want to tell you I’m sorry for making you go out on a date with me when I didn’t have my memories.”

He stopped moving. “Is it because you don’t want to go out with me?”

I loosened my grip and looked in his eyes. “It’s because I want to go out with you again.” Before I could stop myself, I’d already pressed my mouth on his and overwhelmed him. I was doing what I’d taught him to do, but instead of Gou melting, it was Momo melting in my hands. I guess this was the dramatic, romantic climax of this movie.

He finally gathered his bearings and took a step back. “Sousuke,” he said quietly. “Do you want to go to the park later then?” He beamed up at me. “I didn’t really get to look for any beetles yesterday and I know there had to be some around there!”

“I do, I’ll bring some money this time and pay you back for the milkshake.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into a kiss. “And then some extra.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is like the combination of like five different prompts I saw in the soumomo tag on Tumblr. I decided to do it all in a oneshot instead of a multichapter fic since only like five people besides me, a goat, and a (hopefully not dead) tree ship it. I hope you enjoy!


End file.
